Let's pay attention here—goal of the Ryoka are to "save Rukia from execution". No one here has emphasized the importance of executing Rukia. The goals of the Ryoka and of the Gotei 13
do not conflict. At the very least, we can conclude that (if an ability), saving Rukia may require the demise of
Kuchiki Byakuya. But I am not positive on that at all. It seems to be reaching massively.
I lean more towards Rukia being a win condition / requirement for the true Mafia and a town aligned survivor. Someone who has no role, probably no voting power, and if they die, the Ryoka automatically lose? I'm not sure if that's a standard condition for Mafia games, as it would imply an entire faction is undermined by 1 single player...
Or the Ryoka faction is small.
My thoughts linger towards this being a similar situation as Dressrosa, where there were multiple factions that didn't immediately have a reason to go against one another.
So, let's take this statement apart, shall we?
If
@MonkeyD.Luffy believes that the Captains of the Gotei 13 are Mafia, that would denote he is in fact not a Captain of the Gotei 13. He would not be comfortable making this statement if he
(as a likely Ryoka) was blatantly scum. This is a statement born of confusion and not an attempt to redirect the conversation or a Mafia slip up.
It is my belief that this game will mirror the Soul Society arc in many ways.
In the
Soul Society Arc, Ichigo and co. (
the Ryoka) battled it out against the Gotei 13. But their objective was not to defeat the Gotei 13, but to rescue Rukia Kuchiki. Combat and fighting was a requirement in the worst situations. Ganju Shiba tried to free Rukia Kuchiki from her confinement prior to her execution, without battling any Shinigami. Their goal is rescue, not destroying the Gotei 13 (
town).
The people who wanted that were those who contrived the arrest of Rukia Kuchiki—
Sōsuke Aizen. Gin Ichimaru, Tosen Kaname—rogue Shinigami who plotted the downfall of the Gotei 13 in the shadows and used the Ryoka to sew chaos towards that end.
It is my belief that they are the Mafia in this game as well, mirroring their hidden role in the
Soul Society arc. You might ask, "TAC, but Flower specifically mentioned the Ryoka in the intro post?"
Exactly. This is a reference to the beginning of the
Soul Society Arc where the
traitorous trio were unknown. It also mentions "capture alive or dead" and is specifically to set the tone of the game,
not to denote clear sides. This message does not mesh with the game mechanics and this isn't / shouldn't be used to define who is and isn't mafia.
It's a ruse. All of it, matching with the arc of Bleach this is based off of.
Now, this would mean the teams are likely;
3 Scum
Sōsuke Aizen
Gin Ichimaru
Tosen Kaname
1 Independent
Rukia Kuchiki
4 Ryoka
Ichigo Kurosaki
Ishida Uryu
Orihime Inoue
Yoruichi Shihōin
6 Shinigami of the Gotei 13
Byakuya Kuchiki
Zaraki Kenpachi
Renji Abarai
Toshiro Hitsugaiya
Misc.
Misc.
~~~~~~
Now, I think this mostly because the Ryoka & Shinigami will likely be numerous enough to clash / stir confusion over who is and isn't true town. I think this is the intention of the bastard abilities mentioned. But, I also think it extends further than that.
Looking at the likelyhood that Sōsuke Aizen is Mafia (and the game's equivalent to a godfather), we should look at his in-universe abilities. Maybe predict exactly what he can do, so we can gleam at what the player might be capable of?
Kyoka Suigetsu allows Aizen to put anyone under a perfect hypnosis and manipulates all their senses absolutely. The only people who are not susceptible to this are those who haven't seen it—
the Ryoka—whereas the Shinigami of the Gotei 13 are horribly vulnerable to this. For this reason, I suspect the
Gotei 13 has 1 or more Investigatory roles and trying to investigate the Aizen player will yield no scummy responses. They will be clean.
It is also possible that the
Aizen player may be "clean" until Day 2. IIRC, the manga, Aizen "died" in the first night of the Ryoka Invasion. After that, he plotted away whilst everyone's gaze was else where. So, even Night 1 Invest. results could be fraudulent.
Secondly,
Tosen Kaname.. I'm assuming whoever plays Tosen will have a role blocking ability. In the manga, his Bankai stripped people of every sense they had. It's not an even, clean 1 | 1 fit, but I think it's appropriate. So anyone claiming such an ability, we should be wary of.
No idea what could fit
Gin Ichimaru.
TL;DR: I have reason to believe, based off the manga information and the (
intentional) disinformation from Flower that the
Ryoka and
Shinigami are not enemies. The
Mafia is hidden, lurking out there, and we should be on guard for poor results at night.
DO NOT instantly trust a cleared player.
